Joseph J. Sandler
Joseph J. Sandler (1927–1998) was a British psychoanalyst within the Anna Freud Grouping - now the Contemporary Freudians – of the British Psychoanalytical Society; and is perhaps best known for what has been called his 'silent revolution' in re-aligning the concepts of the object relations school within the framework of ego psychology.Otto F. Kernberg, 'The Influence of Joseph Sandler's Work on Contemporary Psychoanalysis' Life Born and educated in South Africa, Sandler moved to London, where he completed his PHD in psychology at University College, London in 1950, before further training in medicine and psychoanalysis. He became a training analyst in 1955.Riccardo Steiner, 'Sandler, Joseph (1927-1998)' Sandler was editor of the International Journal of Psycho-Analysis from 1969 to 1978; and was elected President of the International Psychoanalytical Association in 1989. Theoretical openness Sandler took an open, pragmatic approach to psychoanalytic theorising - something particularly important in the wake of the Controversial discussions which had left a three-way split inside the British Society. He took the view that 'we have a body of ideas, rather than a consistent whole, that constitutes psychoanalytic theory', and called for a 'a greater degree of tolerance of concepts...created by people who have a different psychoanalytic background'Quoted in Patrick Casement, Further Learning from the Patient (1990) p. 184 - something that was of great importance in his rapprochement between Kleinian ideas and ego psychology. Safety Sandler emphasised early in his work (1959) the importance of the feeling of safety, which he linked to early experiences of primary narcissism'R. J Perelberg, Psychoanalytic Understanding of Violence and Suicide (1999) p. 28 He noted however that the search for safety could act as a resistance in psychotherapy;C. Dare et al, The Patient and the Analyst (2011) p. 117 but also highlighted the role of a sense of trust in forging the therapeutic alliance.C. E. Newhill et al, Client Violence in Social Work Practice (2003) p. 8 Role responsiveness and actualization Sandler introduced the term actualization into psychoanalysis from literary studies, to cover the process whereby past object-relationships are brought to life within the analytic setting.J. Sandler, 'Actualization and object relationships', J. of Philadelphia Association for Psychoanalysis 4 (1977): 59-70 Through what he termed the free-floating (if controlled and moderated) 'role responsiveness' of the therapist, the latter was able to bring into being the unconscious fantasy of the patient and so expose it to light - becoming in the process someone a little different with each patient.Patrick Casement, Further Learning from the Patient (1990) p. 118-9 Sandler himself saw the process of actualization as adumbrated in the 7th chapter of Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams;Peter Fonagy et al., Psychoanalysis on the Move (1999) p. 9 and similar concepts can be found in ego psychology, which speaks of the 'evocation' of a proxyPatrick Casement, On Learning from the Patient (London 1985) p. 100 and among post-Jungians with their talk of a 'complementary' countertransference.Mario Jacoby, The Analytic Encounter (1984) p. 41 Sandler's concept also connects with the ideas of acting out and acting in within the analytic session,Patrick Casement, Further Learning from the Patient (1990) p. 166 though Otto Kernberg emphasises specifically how Sandler differentiated actualization from acting out.Otto F. Kernberg, 'The Influence of Joseph Sandler's Work on Contemporary Psychoanalysis' Sandler specifies several different types of actualization, including delusive actualization and symbolic actualization.J. And A.-M. Sandler, Internal Objects Revisited (1998) p. 42 The concept of role responsiveness has subsequently been taken up more widely in British psychoanalysis,Patrick Casement, Further Learning from the Patient (1990) p. 8 and p. 165-6 as well as by intersubjective analysts, who see at least one aspect of countertransference as the therapist's reaction to the role the patient wishes to force upon them.Tamara Latawiec, When the Professional is Personal (2008) p. 21 Example A clear example of actualization described shortly before Sandler's introduction of the term tells how, in an analytic encounter with a young man, one psychoanalyst - David Cooper - had "felt the progressive extrusion of his internalized mother into me, not as a theoretical construct but in actual experience".David Cooper, The Death of the Family (Penguin 1974) p. 114 On psychotherapy Sandler considered that psychotherapy could in homely terms be thought of as a process of 'making friends' with unacceptable parts of oneself.Robert M. Young, 'The Ubiquity of Psychotic Anxieties' His willingness to look beyond dogmatic theorising and to take on board the normal as well as the abnormal in psychotherapeutic assessmentPatrick Casement, Further Learning from the Patient (1990) p. 184 helped facilitate the bridging role he played within the often fragmented world of postmodern psychotherapies.P. Fonagy et al, Psychoanalysis on the Move: the work of Joseph Sandler (1999) p. 44-7 References Further reading * J. J. Sandler, 'Countertransference and role-responsiveness' Int. Review of Psycho-Analysis (1976) 3: 43-7 * J. Sandler, From Safety to Superego (1988) * J. Sandler ed, Projection, Identification and Projective Identification (London 1987) External links * New York Times, 'Joseph J. Sandler...Leading British Psychoanalyst Category:Articles created via the Article Wizard Category:1927 births Category:1998 deaths Category:British psychoanalysts Category:Object relations theorists